Jacksonville's new FBI leader is rising star in agency

On his first day at work, Mike Steinbach sat at a Chicago Denny's drinking coffee, reading a newspaper and covertly protecting a nearby federal witness from a possible hit attempt by the mob.

"I thought, 'Holy moly.' This is a pretty good deal," Steinbach said. "I knew I had made the right [career] choice."

The undercover surveillance assignment was Steinbach's welcome to the FBI.

Seventeen years later, after adding the capture of a serial killer, an interview with a 9/11 facilitator and breaking bread with Israelis and Palestinians to his many accomplishments, Steinbach has arrived in Jacksonville.

The 45-year-old father of four is in his first month as the special agent in charge of the FBI's Jacksonville division, whose 225 special agents and support staff cover 40 of the state's 67 counties from the First Coast to the Panhandle and into Central Florida.

The rising star brings with him a love and appreciation for street work, a gift for gab and a reputation for being a sharp leader who gets it when it comes to protecting the community and supporting his shop.

"He'll do the right thing by his people," said retired FBI agent John Hess, who worked with Steinbach and is a friend. "Mike's done what they're doing. He's not going to dictate to others something he wouldn't do or hasn't done already."

Steinbach has worked with and managed groups that have hunted violent criminals and terrorists. He has also led parts of the agency involved in coordinating domestic and foreign intelligence gathering, worked with the military to shore up its counterterrorism operations in foreign countries and managed FBI international terrorism investigations inside the United States.

As the local FBI head, Steinbach will oversee agents on their own cases but also stand alongside local and state agencies hunting everyone from white-collar criminals to bank robbers. The more resources the better, especially in an economy that has taken its toll on law enforcement as well as everyone else, he said.

" 'Put your egos aside and go do the job' was a valuable lesson to learn that stuck with me in every job I had," Steinbach said.

Strong sense of dutyAfter graduating from the Naval Academy in 1988, the California native spent seven years flying P-3s, though never out of Jacksonville, where a number of squadrons are based.

Continuing his public service in the FBI seemed like the ideal plan and he joined the agency in 1995.

Steinbach said his views toward public service may be viewed as a bit "sappy," but he makes no excuses for being driven by a strong sense of duty.

"I do believe in helping out, working for your country, pushing the ball forward," Steinbach said.

He spent eight years in the FBI's Chicago division, working in the fugitive and violent crimes/major offenders program.

Among the most high-profile cases for Steinbach was his work with a Chicago detective and other cops from 1997-99 hunting down clues in a series of killings of prostitutes. Through the use of DNA, interviews and other work, Steinbach and the lead detective developed a partial name, then a full name and eventually arrested Andre Crawford, a driver for the Chicago Sun-Times who was later convicted in the killings of 11 women.

Steinbach found helping to solve violent crimes thrilling.

"It was so much fun that I hated Friday nights," he said of the end to the work week.

Such dedication and tenacity earned Steinbach respect and praise from fellow agents and others, said Special Agent Ross Rice, who was with Steinbach on the Denny's surveillance assignment.

"He is to me the consummate FBI agent in terms of his character, his demeanor, his work ethic ... everything he does," said Rice, who still works in the Chicago division.

Steinbach began working in the rapidly developing counterterrorism end of the agency in 2003, serving as a program manager for FBI operations in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Afghanistan. His involvement overseas included working with village elders to help shore up intelligence gathering and interrogating enemy detainees.

Steinbach remembers, with some angst, spending several weeks trying to talk information out of a man who served as a facilitator to two of the 9/11 hijackers. The interview occurred in Afghanistan, where Steinbach served as the FBI's deputy on-scene commander.

"I never got him to come off his story despite the fact that we knew his involvement," Steinbach said. "He was an elderly man but mentally very tough."

Steinbach later served as the legal attache to Tel Aviv, Israel, where he worked providing and getting help from the Israelis and Palestinian Authority on a variety of matters involving national security in the United States.

He then returned home and was assigned a series of high-level roles including overseeing FBI investigations of violent crimes in the Washington area and national domestic-based terrorism. Those ranged from the slayings at Fort Hood to the arrest of Faisal Shahzad, who attempted a car bombing in Times Square in 2010.

Steinbach also served as special assistant to Associate Deputy Director Thomas Harrington at FBI headquarters in Washington.

Following a superior's suggestion that he get some experience running a division office, Steinbach applied for the Jacksonville opening when Special Agent in Charge Jim Casey retired. Steinbach took over as the Jacksonville division's 19th leader since 1958 and fifth since 2002.

Steinbach said he was familiar with the Jacksonville area, having visited family members several times while an agent. He and his family found a home in a suburb of the city.

"I picked this spot because I like Florida," Steinbach said of the Jacksonville division. "I'll stay as long as they let me."

Fighting terrorismWhile Steinbach said he will ensure that the Jacksonville division focuses on things such as corruption, white-collar crime and other offenses, combatting terrorism is at the top of his list.

While never discounting direct al-Qaida involvement anywhere in the country, Steinbach said he's equally concerned about homegrown terrorism influenced by radical groups.

"We don't have anything that says there is any threat to the Jacksonville area, but we always have concerns that you hear from our national leaders and the intelligence community," he said. "We always have the threat of homegrown violent extremists. You've got to keep the watch."

Steinbach said a key focus will be on intelligence gathering in all areas and filling gaps with the resources he has available.

"It's either, we've got a [crime and/or terrorism] problem, we don't have a problem or we don't know," he said. "I have to change that 'I don't know' to a know. That's going to be the focus of the office."

After meetings with his division's supervisors and staff, Steinbach has begun visiting local agencies to let them know that help from the FBI is only a phone call away.

"We're going to roll up our sleeves and work together," he said.

jim.schoettler@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4385

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